Heat of the Moment
by TrippWire
Summary: With Raven, nothing ever comes easy. She has found herself in a conundrum: Does she actually like Beast Boy, or are all the pent up hormones taking over? [BBxRae] [LIME: mind the rating]
1. Scene 1

**Disclaimer:** Come on, if I owned Teen Titans, would I really be sitting here writing stories on FanFic?

**Rating:**** M – MIND THE RATING! Expect a little adult content, nothing major, but adult nonetheless.**

**Pre-note:** This story might be a LIME. I can't warn you enough. Also, if you look really (really) hard, you will notice that this story pokes a little fun at (what I believe to be) some common misconceptions of the characters in a lot of Teen Titans fan fictions. And just for a little background, it takes place about a year after Season 5.

And if there's incorrect Titans history in here, please let me know.

* * *

**Scene 1**

Even brushing past him was becoming a near-impossible feat to accomplish. Hiding her feelings was hard enough, but this? This was just getting ridiculous. And the worst part about it was that she wasn't sure if what she felt was genuine affection from deep within her heart, or a hormone-driven infatuation that would die out soon after she got her satisfaction.

Raven roamed around the tower like a hopeless nomad. It was the middle of the day; not too long after a normal lunch hour, but she had not even bothered with food today. Although no one outside the tower would ever know, she couldn't help but think that this somehow supplied to the belief that she never ate. As she passed through the lonely halls, she pondered intently. She had been doing this all morning, too, but the same thoughts raced through her mind. It was the weekend, and sometimes she would conduct mental re-caps of the week. Except this time, Beast Boy dominated this re-cap. And what surprised her most about everything that happened during the week was that every time she did as little as pass Beast Boy, the urge to lurch onto him would grow stronger. This was what caused her uncertainty: was her desire for him being driven by deep-seeded feelings… or primal lust and nothing else?

This was not a sudden issue for her, though. Her feelings for the green-skinned boy had been growing since her encounter with Malchior, the accursed dragon. It was now three years later. Beast Boy had comforted her after she had been deceived and used, and she was beyond grateful of him for that. She needed to hug him. At the time, she could not form the words to thank him, so she did what came naturally and hugged him. But during that hug, she also noted that she liked the feel of his body, despite his immediate tensing-up from her uncharacteristic move. For that, she couldn't blame him. He was warm, he fit into her arms perfectly (it helped that they were relatively the same size). He felt neither lanky nor bulky, which she decided she rather liked.

For the past three years, some things told her she was physically attracted to him, and some things told her she was emotionally attracted to him. She guessed he had grown on her. Being around him everyday caused her to get used to his presence. Completely. She was no longer aggravated by his corny antics and his pathetic attempts to get a chuckle out of her. In all seriousness, the kid's jokes were not funny by any means. Then again, that wasn't important to her; the point was that he cared enough to get her to show some pleasance. And despite all of his failures, he never gave up on her. She admired that about him. She was Raven after all, that dark Goth girl that ignores the world and locks herself in her creepy room twenty-four/seven, supposedly.

Raven sneered at the thought.

However, he was funny when he wasn't fumbling through some joke he heard or made up. During battle, he would make clever remarks that would garner a chuckle or two from her, which she always hid under the protection of her hood. Raven knew the reasons for his light-hearted and juvenile behavior, though. He had shared those reasons with her and her only. Choosing to share such confidential information with her made her feel so special and trusted. It turned out Beast Boy had a tough life of his own. The rest of the Titans knew the basic history of Beast Boy, but he never explained the details. His parents died when he was a mere child. She would never know the exact feeling of losing a parent (she was raised detached from her mother, and her father, well…), but she got a vivid idea from how he expressed himself when he told her. He was then taken into the Doom Patrol, where life was all work and no play. Little Garfield Logan never had a chance to experience a real childhood, so in a way, he made up for it in his teen years.

Raven had been lucky enough to see his calm, reserved, serious side on several occasions, as well as his angered side. The first experience with Beast Boy's primal side, otherwise know as "the beast", was a prominent example. She could see the anger and frustration screaming in his eyes during their face-off in the hallway that day. He was influenced by recombinant DNA, but it brought out his frustration in himself, of his green skin. Afterwards, she saw his wisdom down at his spot at the edge of the island. Seeing him offer so much insight about himself was a mind-opening experience, even though it lasted for but a moment…

Recently, conversation had been a normal occurrence between the two of them, and not just light banter. They would talk after dinner, sometimes for an hour or two. Although she would enjoy the value of their conversations, she would enjoy studying him too. It was during these times that she noticed how he changed over the years. The change in his appearance from when they first met to his current look was almost drastic. He was on par with her in terms of height (he just couldn't seem to gain that extra half-inch that would send her to the bottom of the height chart). The natural effect of maturing filled out his body. His body was lean, still the way she liked it. Not bulky, but defined. She would sometimes catch him without a shirt on in the gym and desperately turn away to hide the blush covering her face. The green skin did not matter to her. If anything, it enhanced his appearance. And then his face, his gorgeous face. Puberty squared out his jaw, giving him a truly manly look. His alluring emerald eyes could put her in a trance if she stared at them for too long. The skin on his face was flawless; no blemishes and always freshly shaved. His hair was long, too. It came as a surprise to her when she saw how straight it grew out. It was just long enough to cascade in the wind and flow in front of those eyes of his, causing her to gaze. She just loved his pointed ears too. She never thought they would add so much effect to his look. He was always one to try to impress the ladies, so he made an effort to look his best. That was definitely a plus. If he couldn't sanitize his room, well, at least he could sanitize himself. How could she deny it? Raven knew she thought he was cute, but as these thoughts of him filled her mind, she knew he was more than just that…

The fact that she noticed all these things about him forced her to come to terms with something: she was in fact a teenage girl and all the raging hormones had an effect on her. The effect that caused her to admire his well-built body. The effect that made her want to grab him every time he brushed by her. The effect that caused her to have those explicit dreams. Ever since the downfall of Trigon, she had been able to be more emotionally free, but still not completely (her powers were the only thing preventing this). Being withdrawn was actually a natural part of her personality, but now she felt more emotion than she had ever felt before. The one she emotion she still did not understand was lust. She acknowledged its existence within her, but sometimes it was like trying to keep an angry bear restrained to a tree with a piece of masking tape. And due to her powers, emotions could still escape her control if she let them get out of hand. Luckily, lust had not been an emotion to do that. At least not yet. Adolescence did not make a good match with her powers, to say the least.

A door swished open in front of her and she jumped in shock. It never helped to tune out her surroundings, she thought. She entered a long hallway where let the sunlight pour in through a row of windows. She could see the miniscule particles of dust floating in the air as the light reflected off them. The room was warm from the sun and it momentarily took her mind off her ponderings. She looked through the windows towards the glistening sea that extended out from Jump Bay. Despite the cloudless sky, white caps on the waves told her that there was a fairly strong sea breeze whirling past the tower.

As she came to another corridor, this time a windowless one, her thoughts returned. She knew she was physically attracted to Beast Boy. She also knew she enjoyed his company, she could start a good conversation with him, and that he trusted her. Knowing this brought on a new set of thoughts. He had trusted her with painful memories of his childhood and always offered to talk when she was feeling troubled. Was it possible he had feelings for her too? If he did, would he tell her or would she have to drag it out of him? To be perfectly honest, she was afraid of rejection. She had dealt with it all her life and wasn't sure how she would handle it from him. Maybe she really did _like_ him, not just _want_ him. All of these feelings were so powerful. Perhaps even more powerful than a simple crush. Physical or emotional, at the rate things were going for her now, it could turn into—

Raven caught herself this time before unceremoniously smashing right into a set of double doors. She took a moment to absorb her surroundings and finally recognized where she was. These were the doors to the common room. She stood there for what seemed like ten minutes, debating on whether she should go in or not. Would _he_ be in there? What would she do if _he_ was? Maybe she should just turn around right now and head back to her room to continue thinking in circles. No, she shouldn't, she reasoned. For the past two hours she had been wandering around, and chances are she'd be sitting alone for that long (if not longer) if she went back to her room. She figured she should put her thoughts aside and deal with what whatever came her way in the common room.

With a heavy sigh, she brought her hand to the identification pad that allowed passage through the doors. They pulled aside once the computer verified Raven's hand print and she stepped into what she thought would be a busy room. It was quite the contrary. Only one titan was present; the other three were no where to be seen.

Raven slowly padded down the short set of stairs before the main floor of the common room and made her way over to the counter at the kitchen. She sat herself on one of the stools and rested her elbows on the countertop. As she did so, she studied a very occupied Starfire. Dinner the night before had been more like a Tamaranian banquet, minus the bizarre delicacies that could only be considered as such on Tamaran. So naturally, a mass of tableware was left behind. Hence the problem: no one had a clear idea of the dish-duty schedule anymore. When it came to domestic responsibilities, the Titans were just like any other lazy teenagers. Today, however, Starfire had taken the liberty of washing the endless amount plates, bowls, cups, and utensils that sat haphazardly stacked in the sink. The girl was quite good at washing; she seemed to be getting some joy out of it also. Tamaranians descended from a feline-like race, according to Starfire's knowledge of her ancestry, so cleaning came as a natural habit for her.

Raven made a note of Starfire's apparel as she made repeated journeys from the sink to the dishwasher. Because they were in the sanctity of the tower, she wore a pink camisole with a single green flower that matched her eyes placed on the center of her bust. The tight top stopped at her belly button, showing off her slim midriff. From there she wore a pair of light-blue hip-hugger jeans that seemed like a second skin until her lower legs where they widened into a bell-bottom. The whole outfit suited her, Raven thought. Starfire really was a beautiful, petite thing. Raven actually admired and envied the alien girl's natural beauty and ability to wear such clothing without looking cheap.

Raven looked down at herself. She remained in the same blue cloak and black leotard she had always worn. Beast Boy, Robin, and Starfire had all started wearing normal clothing more often, but Raven denied the chance to change her look. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she needed her current outfit; as if without it, she wouldn't be Raven anymore. However, she was always intrigued by what her friends chose to wear.

It was then that Raven started wondering whether she was invisible or just extremely inconspicuous. She had been in the room for about five minutes already and still Starfire had not acknowledged her presence, strangely enough. If her wish to become invisible finally came true, then it was a couple years too late. So she did the logical thing to do… she spoke.

"Hey, Starfire."

"I was wondering when you would speak, friend Raven," Starfire said, but she did not take her visual attention away from her precious dishes for a second.

"Sorry," Raven responded, "I guess I'm a little out of it today." Internally, she was saying '_she expects ME to start a conversation?'_

Starfire was nonplussed. "What are you out of?"

"It basically means I'm having difficulty paying attention to my surroundings."

"Hmm, that does not seem normal. Is there something that troubles you?" she inquired kindly.

"I'm probably just tired," Raven reasoned. It was true, for the most part. She had been thinking about the same thing day and night for the past week. Sometimes her thoughts kept her from falling asleep. It was proving to be impossible to get _him_ out of her mind, although she wasn't complaining about that all the time. In the middle of her frustration, there were some thoughts that were… well, enjoyable.

There was more silence. And for once, it was making Raven uncomfortable. So she brought up the next topic in her mind.

"Starfire?"

"Hmm?"

"Where is everyone else?"

Starfire paused from her work this time and put the plate and over-used dish rag down. She turned to face Raven.

"Well, it is in my knowledge that Cyborg is doing the recharging." She lifted up her index finger to represent their robotic friend. "Robin is out doing the running of the errands. Although he did not specify which errands, Robin said they needed to be done." She counted off the next finger. "And Beast Boy is… um, I truly do not know where our friend has gone. He is not present in the tower though. This I know."

"Figures," Raven muttered. She was actually relieved that Beast Boy was out, but she just had a reputation to keep up, so she remained stoic. If he was around, she wasn't sure how she would react. She was afraid to find that out. She avoided long and close encounters with him throughout the week, because if brushing past him triggered that much of a craving in her, then being around him for a while could be disastrous.

"Why do you wish to know the whereabouts of our friends, Raven?" Starfire asked.

It took a moment for Raven to formulate an answer because her current thoughts refused to let her mind process other information.

"It has been unusually quiet around here today. And that's coming from me. I wasn't expecting everyone to be out doing something," she explained.

That was partially true also. She wasn't completely making up an excuse; it just wasn't the whole reason. She really wanted to know just where Beast Boy was, but she had to cover up that curiosity from Starfire.

Starfire pondered. "Yes, it has been quite lonely. I have been doing the dishwashing for some time now, and I have not heard from anyone. You are the first person I have made conversation with today."

"One of those days, I guess," Raven offered.

Starfire nodded. "One of those days indeed." And with that, she went back to scrubbing the scum off the plates. Except with this one, she worked more vigorously to remove the grime. It was obviously one of Cyborg's plates.

Raven remained at her seat, but she entered somewhat of a trance. She stared down at the counter, a distant, glazed look in her amethyst eyes. In her ever busy mind, she debated on what to do. It was an unusual day, so in accordance to that, her usual activities didn't seem appealing. She didn't want to make tea; she wasn't thirsty. She didn't want to read; she had been reading so many books anyway. She didn't want to meditate; it simply wasn't needed. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how little she actually needed to meditate nowadays. But whenever she did, it was because it was a nice way to relax, whether her mind was troubled or not. Meditating to control her emotions was becoming a thing of the past.

Then she thought about what her friends usually did. She wouldn't mind working on the T-Car with Cyborg, but unfortunately his baby doesn't need to be worked on all the time. Besides, Cyborg was "asleep" anyway. Go to the mall? No, she didn't even want to think about that. Feeding Silky was a no and she really wasn't in the mood to do chores either, namely washing grimy dishes.

She was about to think of what Beast Boy did routinely, but she quickly decided against that. She needed to take her mind off him for a while. Doing what he did would certainly not help.

That left Robin…

After some thought, something clicked. She hopped off the stool and rushed out of the common room, leaving Starfire behind with her hopeless task.

**-X-X-X-**

Raven came to her bedroom and entered hastily. She felt excited; this was going to be just what she needed. It was good for her too, no doubt about that.

She needed appropriate clothing, so she scavenged through her dresser. She was able to keep most of her clothing, all sorted and folded, in one dresser. Unlike Starfire, she didn't own too much. She rummaged through her bottom drawer where she kept her pants until found what she was looking for: a pair of grey sweatpants. She threw them onto her bed before continuing. She skipped over three more drawers (the first containing a small assortment of shirts and the other two containing her leotards and cloaks) to the one at the very top. She pulled it out, revealing her socks and different varieties of undergarments. She decided not to wear any socks or shoes; barefoot was the way to go. She then moved to her bras. The generic were in the left pile, in the middle there was lingerie (even Raven could not overcome her curiosity), and on the right were sports bras. Reaching a hand in the right pile, she went through several before picking out a simple black sports bra. Even though Raven chose to wear her uniform most of the time, she still had clothing that was necessary to any other girl.

Satisfied with her selection, Raven unhooked her belt and cloak and set both of them on the edge of her bed. She reached behind her back and unzipped her leotard and retracted her arms through the sleeves. It peeled off to the waist, revealing her bare torso. As her body began to develop, she learned that the tightness of her leotard made wearing a bra under it uncomfortable. Then she slid it down her slender legs and around her feet. She lifted it to her hands so she could fold it and set it on top of her cloak.

Raven reached for the black sports bra and put her arms through the holes and delicately lowered it over her head until it rested at the top of her chest. She slipped the garment over top her bosom and adjusted it to make sure she was comfortable before grabbing the sweatpants and stepping through the legs. She jumped slightly to pull them out from under her feet and up to her waist. Finally, she pulled the strings tight so that the pants hugged her hips.

She had almost forgotten how comfortable normal clothing was. This reminded her of the philosophy that beauty is pain. As long her clothing was comfortable, she was fine. That's another reason why she liked her leotard so much; it felt good against her skin. If it hadn't, then she wouldn't wear it. But what she wore now was light and breathable; perfect for what she was planning to do.

And besides, Beast Boy had commented on how nice Raven looked in whatever she wore on several occasions, so apparently pain was no object for her. He made her feel good about herself, which was a contributor to her feelings toward him. When it came to the pleasant things like this, she let her mind roam around thoughts of him. If he could make her feel good about her looks, she wondered how else he could possibly make her feel good.

Raven walked out of her room smiling and headed down the hall in the opposite direction of the common room. After a few turns she came to another set of double doors with small windows in them. After completing the identification, the doors opened to a large gym. She first headed over to the stereo and picked out one of her CD's from the CD rack and put it in the player. The whole gym was wired with a surround-sound stereo system, specially designed by Cyborg, along with its high-tech training equipment. Music was always helpful during a workout, especially her music. She hit the play button and the strums of guitars started blaring out of the speakers located throughout the complex.

She was already feeling pumped as she walked over to Robin's station in the gym. Raven approached a punching bag and started bouncing on the balls of her feet in time to the fast-paced song. She needed a good workout. It was the perfect way to spend her time on a day like this and get away from the usual.

Raven inhaled deeply and released the breath in a yell as her fist made contact with the defenseless bag…


	2. Scene 2

**Scene 2**

'_How long have they been out?'_ Raven wondered.

It was a quarter past eight in the evening, and neither Robin nor Beast Boy had returned from their outings. Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven had been doing their own activities all day, and finally they congregated in the common room. Starfire went on a chore spree, Cyborg ran a weekly inspection of the tower's security system and proceeded to take a "nap", and Raven had been in the gym for god knows how long. Now that the day had slowed down and they were finally together, the queries about Robin and Beast Boy's whereabouts started to arise. Starfire was worried, Cyborg was annoyed, but Raven found the whole situation to be very peculiar.

"I do hope Robin and Beast Boy have not been harmed," Starfire said as she paced through the air behind the couch.

"They better be a little beat up," Cyborg fumed from his spot in the middle of the couch, "because if they're not, I won't have the heart to yell at their butts. They both know I always ask for help with the security check."

Starfire, becoming increasingly concerned for the two missing Titans, continued air-pacing. "Why have they not called? I know Robin will sometimes be out for many hours at a time, but he usually does the checking in."

"Yeah. But for BB, being out _alone_ for this long is just weird. I thought the guy liked having company," Cyborg speculated.

Raven, back in her usual attire, sat in silence at the end of the couch to Cyborg's left with her arms crossed. She observed her impatient friends. Yes, this was very strange, but Raven knew that at the very least they were okay. Robin was the kind of person who could take care of himself whether he was the equipped Robin or the gadget-less Richard Grayson. No doubt he'd be back soon; he always had a way of showing up in the nick of time.

And Beast Boy was fine. She _knew_ he was. It wasn't a gut feeling, it was a fact. It was because of her powers, she figured. She had been noticing this for awhile. If he was in trouble, Raven could feel it. If he was okay, Raven could feel it. She thought that her empathic abilities only allowed her to _sense_ the mental conditions and emotions of others in close proximity to her. Beast Boy was proving that theory wrong; she could _feel_ what he felt. And it didn't matter how far he was from her. Perhaps this was an extension of her abilities; she had always been able to sense the emotions of Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg, but never _feel_ them specifically as she did with Beast Boy. It was like a true connection of her and Beast Boy's minds, bodies, and souls.

This had been a relatively new phenomenon with her. It had come as a shock when one day she was levitating in a lotus position and a sudden burst of excitement filled her, causing her to ungracefully fall to the ground. And, at the time, it seemed coincidental that Beast Boy became overjoyed right when she did. When it came to beating Cyborg's high score, apparently there was much to be excited about, but not to her. After another similar situation, Raven began to suspect that he was culprit responsible for these impromptu surges of emotion. Raven was about to delve deeper into her thoughts, but she was interrupted by a voice.

"Raven, are you not worried about Beast Boy and Robin?" Starfire inquired.

Raven took a moment to register the question. "I don't have to be," she replied.

And as if on cue, the main doors to the common room opened.

"Hey dudes! What's up?" Beast Boy said with a deep, gleeful resonance. He was wearing a tight, grey t-shirt and a pair of dirty-washed boot-cut jeans.

Starfire and Cyborg both whipped around at the sound of his voice, but Raven remained calmly seated.

Robin was in tow to Beast Boy. He also walked in with a smile and a few large bags as well. "Hey guys," he said. Robin also wore casual attire; a pale-red shirt with a yellow collar and pair of cargo shorts.

Starfire's face lit up and with an explosive burst of speed, she flew up to the top of the stairs to greet Robin with a strong hug. "You are both alright!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, you know you don't have to worry about us, Star," Robin said, attempting to put his arms around Starfire even though his hands currently occupied. She responded with a light kiss on his lips.

Cyborg stepped around the couch to get closer to them. "Where the_ hell_ have you two been?" he admonished. "Do you know how long it takes to inspect a tower when you got NO ONE ELSE TO HELP YOU?"

Beast Boy lifted his hands, gesturing for Cyborg to stop. "Whoa, tin-man. Calm down, dude."

"Yeah Cyborg. You know I was running errands," Robin said in his own defense.

"For seven hours?" Cyborg asked incredulously.

Robin smirked. "Well, not the whole time."

"Yeah, we met up and decided to hang a little," Beast Boy added.

Cyborg eyed them both, passing glares between them. Then he grunted and shook his head. "You know what?" he capitulated, "I don't even care anymore."

And with that, Cyborg dragged himself back to the couch and plopped right back down in his spot.

"Well you should care," Beast Boy announced as he stepped down from the stairs and onto the main floor, "because I got lots to tell ya."

"Please," Starfire said, "it would be most wonderful for you to tell us of your day. You were out quite a long time."

Beast Boy walked around the room so he could stand by the coffee table in front of the couch where his audience gathered. Starfire flew onto the end of the couch opposite of Raven, who still hadn't reacted to the situation.

Meanwhile, Robin headed to the kitchen to start unloading the heaping bags, each containing all sorts of things.

"So yeah," Beast Boy started, "Robin and I were both out. He was getting groceries, taking stuff to the cleaners, yahdah yahdah."

Raven's eyebrows twitched at Beast Boy's statement. He failed to specify where he was or what he was doing.

"Well, it was maybe two or three o'clock and I decided to get something to eat. I went to that little Chinese place downtown by the harbor. So when I walked through the doors, guess who I saw?"

Cyborg and Starfire twisted their bodies to look at Robin, who was sorting cans into various cabinets. He just gave a single wave of his hand without even looking up from what he was doing.

Beast Boy continued as his audience brought their attention back to him. "Yup, Robin was there sitting at one of the booths, so of course I went to join our mighty leader."

A single "hah" could be heard from the kitchen.

"Just so I don't bore you guys, I'll just say we ate lunch and talked a little bit."

Starfire had a look of enthrallment on her face, but neither Cyborg nor Raven looked too amused yet. Nevertheless, Beast Boy continued.

"So right as we were gunna call the waitress, who happened to be this tall Asian chick that–"

"We don't wanna here about the girl," Raven suddenly interjected.

Beast Boy ceased talking and narrowed his brows at her. Raven all of a sudden felt embarrassed for some reason. She had no reason to be. Her eyes widened for a split second as she noticed a very slight pink tinge on Beast Boy's cheeks. He was embarrassed and he probably knew it was a mistake to say that.

"Yo, BB, keep goin'," Cyborg said out of the blue, trying to break the sudden silence.

Twitching a little, Beast Boy started his story again as if nothing had just happened. "Anyway, I see Robin look out the window. He said there was some dude walking into a back alley. I didn't see him, but Robin said he was suspicious-looking and all. You know how he can get those vibes just from looking at people."

At this point Beast Boy started getting into his little story. He was talking with his hands and every move he made would cause his long hair to bounce and sway.

"So Robin got into his hero mode and just kinda got up to leave the restaurant. Well, I couldn't just sit there and watch, so I slapped two twenties on the table and got up to follow him."

This time Cyborg interrupted. "You just put forty bucks on the table? Man, two full meals there cost no more than twenty-five total, even with tip."

Beast Boy's waving arms fell limp like noodles and he frowned exasperatedly at the robotic teen. "May I continue?"

Rolling his eyes, Cyborg flicked his hand, silently gesturing for Beast Boy to continue.

"Thank you," Beast Boy sighed. "So now Robin and I are looking around this corner into a dark alley, trying to see what this guy was doing. He met up with this other suspicious-looking dude."

"I heard him say 'You got da stuff?' and the other guys was like 'Yeah, it's all packed up, nice an' hidden an' ready ta go. Da cops have been searchin' for days, but dey ain't got a lead on us.'"

Beast Boy's voice became deep and gruff to imitate the two felons.

"Then he's like 'You bettah have my money 'cuz this is some high quality stuff. Just one smoke of it and you're off for a looooong time.' So I was like, 'Dude, we got some serious drug dealers on our hands'. And being the totally awesome heroes that we are, we made a plan."

Grinning wildly, Beast Boy divulged further into his story. Raven's leg started becoming restless. This really wasn't doing her any good. For one, she couldn't keep her eyes off Beast Boy. And two, she couldn't tell if he noticed her staring because he seemed caught up in his enthusiastic disposition. All of those boiling emotions she held for him were enough, and now his emotions were fighting for vacancy within her. Thus, the mental strain sent her leg in a bouncing frenzy.

"So Robin walks into the alley as casually as possible–"

Raven almost forgot Beast Boy was still talking because of the conflict taking place inside her mind.

"–No joke; he looked like he was taking a walk through Jump Central Park or something. I would've laughed, but you know, I had to keep our cover. He just comes up behind the one guy and taps him on the shoulder. I think the other guy saw him coming, but he didn't do anything about it. But anyway, this guy nearly jumped out of his pants! He was real quick to swing around pull his gun out on Robin. Like he wasn't already suspicious enough."

Starfire gasped at the mention of a gun and Cyborg now looked thoroughly intrigued. However, Raven just kept her eyes on Beast Boy, never blinking.

"And now this crazy kid over here didn't even flinch and asked the guy 'What are you doing' like some nosy teenager," Beast Boy said, nodding towards Robin. "Meanwhile, I'm a spider crawling on the wall. I had to keep the Boy Wonder covered." He winked at Starfire. "Couldn't let your man go in there all alone, now could I?"

She smiled at him. "Most certainly not."

"Now this guy looked like he was either go to strangle Robin or crap himself. I couldn't tell which." Beast Boy laughed. "He says 'That's nunnah your damn business.' Then the other guy steps around and pulls out his gun too and says 'Now get da hell outta here.'"

"At this point, I didn't think we had to do anything more. I mean, what kind of idiot would take their gun out on a, well, seemingly harmless teenager and threaten them. Robin could've just obeyed the guy and gotten the cops, but hey, it's is our job to take 'em down, right?"

Cyborg grinned and nodded his head in agreement.

"So this is when things got serious. Robin says 'This probably isn't the best city to be dealing drugs.' Then the two dudes cocked their guns. I got on my guard, ready to show those suckers whose boss."

"So the one is like 'Oh yeah? Why's that?'" Beast Boy smirked. "These guys obviously haven't been to Jump City. Then Robin says…" He decided called out to Robin, "What'd you say, Robin?"

"Because you're the ones that are going to get smoked," Robin declared in his classic heroic voice.

"Nice one, Robin," Cyborg laughed.

Starfire giggled in response; she always admired his ability to always make those clever remarks.

Robin just grinned as he started organizing the fresh dry cleaning he picked up from the cleaners.

And in the midst of all this, there was Raven, still sitting there, her leg starting to get sore from its constant movement.

"Yeah, I don't know how you keep pulling those out of your sleeves," Beast Boy added before continuing his 'epic' narrative. "So right after he said that, I morphed back to human and kicked the one guy into the other before they even had a chance to do anything. They were on the ground in a second. Robin kicked the guns out of both their hands and got behind them and twisted their arms back. I guess that put them in to much pain to do anything… because they didn't." He smiled widely, or at least wider than before.

"And just like that, we took those two thugs down. It turns out we caught some of the biggest dealers in the state. I wasn't for all that big news stuff; I'm just happy I helped make the world a better place, you know?"

"Ha, you liar," Cyborg remarked, chuckling. "You know you _love _sucking up to the cameras."

Beast Boy shrugged smugly. "Well, what can I say? The media loves Beast Boy."

Raven waited to hear him continue speaking, but when he didn't, she attempted to look like she had been paying attention the whole time.

Beast Boy stood there for a moment with his hands on his hips, smiling proudly with his eyes closed. Then he thought of something that wiped the look right off his face.

"Wait, how'd you guys not hear about all this?" he inquired confusedly. "Didn't you guys see it on the news? It was on all the local stations."

Starfire, Cyborg, and the now alert Raven shrugged.

"I do not believe any of us watched the television today," Starfire offered.

"I know I didn't. I was too busy resting up 'cuz I had to all the work around the tower ALONE," Cyborg grumbled. He felt the need to remind Beast Boy he was still sort of irked by his and Robin's absence.

Beast Boy pretended like he didn't hear Cyborg. "So anyway, what do you guys think about that for an excuse?" he asked, regaining his overly proud grin.

The deathly blank stare from his large friend's face caught his attention again. "Man, do you know how many times you say the word 'so' when you tell a story?" Cyborg stated, purposely avoiding giving the changeling an answer he desired.

And with that, Beast Boy's grin faded once more. He glared at Cyborg, but in his mind, he couldn't really deny the truth of his comment. That was the thing with their friendship; they always messed with each other, but no matter how much they got on each other's nerves, it boiled down to the fact that they were good enough friends to getaway with almost anything.

Raven felt extremely relieved. Beast Boy's excitement wasn't pouring out of him anymore, for the moment anyway. Her thoughts were broken by a slight upward motion in the couch cushion, but she immediately clammed up when she realized who it was that had thrown himself down right next to her. Beast Boy got comfortable in his spot, and each time he adjusted, the space between her and him decreased. It was by a miniscule distance, but it was enough for Raven to notice.

"Please, in what way did you spend the rest of your day?" Starfire asked.

"Ah," came Robin's voice. He was just finishing up from his duties and starting walking over to the congregation. "There's really no story for that. Right after the bust, Beast Boy and I walked around for a little bit and talked before going off and doing our own thing."

Robin sat down next to Starfire and put an arm around her.

Starfire nodded. "Hmm, I see. What was it that you did, exactly?"

Her tone held a mock suspicion, causing Robin to chuckle.

"You don't have to worry; I actually went down to an arcade for an hour or two. I'm kind of tired of losing to this big lug over here. Figured I'd have more luck down there," he said, pointing to Cyborg with his thumb.

He grinned and at Robin. "You know it. No one beats the champ."

Robin continued. "But yeah, that was only two hours. You wouldn't believe how much time it takes to get things done for us. Seriously, most of my day was getting groceries, picking up dry cleaning, working out damage costs we owe to the city…" He hesitated at mid sentence, his mind traveling into the past. "…thanks to a couple mishaps we had awhile back…"

Everyone, well almost everyone, nodded knowingly. Raven was lost within her own little bubble again. Beast Boy saw her lack of any outward emotion towards the situation. Every once and awhile he'd cast a short glance at her. Normally he would have thought she could feel his eyes on her, but now he wasn't so sure about that. This had become a more and more common occurrence from her whenever he sat this close to her. What happened to the Raven he talked to all the time?

A voice, accompanied by a light nudge on her upper arm, burst that secluded bubble of Raven's and brought her back into awareness of her surroundings.

"Hey, you haven't said much," Beast Boy said to her lightly. "Tell us something."

"Excuse me?" she asked quite confused.

"Yeah, Raven," Robin agreed, "what did you do today?"

All eyes turned toward her. Raven was caught in a conundrum, but only for an immeasurable fraction of time. A keen mind was a fine quality she possessed, so she was always able to find quick solutions to the problems she faced. It also helped that she did something today she was willing to tell her friends about…

"Well, today was a bit different for me," she admitted right off the back.

As she began talking, she soon found that it actually helped take her mind off the conflicts within her. The main one being how difficult it was to be so close to Beast Boy without considering certain impulsive decisions that would most likely result in either complete embarrassment or regret.

"I didn't feel like doing anything you guys are used to me doing, actually."

The fact that she had started talking so willingly made Beast Boy much less concerned. So, he acted surprised by her proclamation and releasing a fake gasp, to which the others chuckled. All except for Raven.

Of course, what was admission to Raven was no surprise to him. He had gotten to know her so well and figured there was more to her than what everyone saw. Making tea, reading old tomes, meditating, and yelling at him were not the only things she was capable of. Over the course of their friendship, he had even gotten her to play a round of videogames on the Game Station once or twice. It fascinated him to hear what she was about to say.

It wasn't so much the gasp that made her turn her head towards Beast Boy; it was the sudden spike in his emotions that she felt spring alive inside of her. It wasn't enough to alter her show of emotions, but she definitely felt it. That damned ability of hers. She saw him smiling back at her like he always did nowadays, and he winked. A very slight, warm feeling in her cheeks told her she should quit looking at him and just continue rambling.

"I changed into some workout clothes and went into the gym to work out for awhile," Raven told them. "I felt like I needed something active to do. It also felt good to get out of this leotard for awhile."

As she said this, she noted that her chest began to feel heavy and heart sped up. She was unsure what the cause of it was. Was it that wink of his? Was she weakening from his proximity?

"Good for you," Robin commented. "What kind of routine did you do?"

"Thinking about what my friends do on a daily basis is actually what led me to even go workout," Raven illuminated. "I went to your station and used the punching bag to work on my fighting techniques. I kind of figured I needed it."

"Ah, glad to see I could provide some inspiration," Robin replied kindly.

Something inside of her was beginning to make her very uncomfortable. It was happening again; the primal urge was returning. And it only began emerging after she mentioned that she went to work out. But why was the feeling this intense? This couldn't possibly be what Beast Boy was feeling, could it?

When she looked at him, he looked as care-free as ever. But it didn't last long; his face quickly changed.

All the meanwhile, as Raven said she went to workout out, a mental image popped in Beast Boy's mind. He found a woman training and strengthening her body to be quite… sexy. But no more than a second after the image took shape in his mind, he admonished himself for thinking that. This was Raven, his best friend. He couldn't think about her that way, could he? He knew she was quite attractive and had even told her he thought that. Raven had never thought much of herself and through their private talk sessions, he learned that she didn't think she was the most attractive person either. Beast Boy felt comfortable enough with her to give her his opinion. He told her she was very pretty. It took some convincing, but eventually she seemed to believe him. He didn't want to overdue it because that would have probably caused Raven to think he was lying to her. To him, she was actually _the _prettiest girl he had ever seen, let alone been close to. But ever since then, it had remained just that: a simple fact.

To his credit, he was able to quickly push past that thought and keep a straight, care-free look on his face. However, when she looked at him, something about her caught her attention. Her breathing had become heavy enough that he could hear it. Her face was a mix between worried… and something else he couldn't put his finger on. Her lips were parted, but not hung open. Her eyes looked focused on his, but they seemed like they were looking off into space at the same time.

The other three Titans on the couch felt like misplaced pieces of a complex puzzle. Starfire starred wide-eyed while Robin and Cyborg each quirked one of their eyebrows up. Beast Boy and Raven were looking at each other, not moving, completely silent. One second Raven is talking, the next second Raven and Beast Boy turn heads and there's a deathly calm in the atmosphere. They could do nothing but observe the ensuing situation.

"Raven?" Beast Boy spoke, finally cutting through the empty air.

"I need to go," she stuttered, swiftly turning as she stood up and strode off.

Beast Boy whipped around to look behind the couch, but she was already gone.


End file.
